Tommy Tippee became a level 3 Rogue / Thief who can use tools, open locks, and pick pockets as a 'cunning' (extra) action per turn. He likes shiny things and generally killing captured enemies.
They are in company with Janek Lightbringer, a priest of Lathander who is approximately level 5.
We left our heroes in the ruins of Thundertree. It took a while for them to recall exactly why they were there after their rest, however they eventually remembered that they sought Reidoth the Druid. The companions headed to one of the more intact looking farmhouses and found the door to be locked. Tommy uncharacteristically failed to pick it and so it was left to Gary Barlow to use his mighty strength to start pounding down the door.
Reidoth, inside, wasn't happy. A lesson was learnt, and from this point on the heroes tended to knock on doors.
A conversation with Reidoth revealed some of the local goings on; he had indeed adventures with Daren Edermath and Aldith Tresender back in the day. He may have slain a dragon. He happily revealed the location of Cragmaw Castle. He also told the party that a green dragon had moved into the old Tower in Thundertree. The dragon's real name was Veythixamonvu’unt but he was known by local peasants as 'Venomfang'. Reidoth told of cultists who he had seen entering the cellar of an abandoned farmhouse to the East and explained that he believed them to be from The Cult of the Dragon. The heroes made for this base and easily located the concealed trapdoor after asking Reidoth to accompany them.
They knocked, as was the new protocol, and were told to go away. They persisted and Tommy's keen senses heard a muffled muttering of 'Get rid of them!' Which they must have taken as a threat, because no sooner was the cultist out of the trapdoor they attacked, decaptating him. Tommy was slashed across the chest and used his wiles to disengage without provoking further attacks. After killing another cultist, their leader, Favric, came out with his hands above his head to parlay. He wasn't shy about telling the heroes of his assignment to coax Venomfang into the area with tribute however was keen to be allowed to leave with no harm done. The heroes disagreed and simply killed him. Tommy looted a potion of flying from his corpse, and the heroes found 3 diamonds in a coffer in the cellar; Gary took 2 and Tommy 1. Poor Janek seemed to be getting a raw deal.
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| A Dragon Cultist |
Heading south through Neverwinter wood, they noticed the trail became quieter and Tommy picked up the scent of death drifting in from the East. They elected to follow and came across a small lake, with a wooden cabin and several dead deer dotted around. They did not investigate the dead animals but had they done so it would be clear that they had starved to death. Instead they knocked on the door of the cabin and after hearing a female voice ask for help, cautiously approached.
There they found the beautiful nymph Ellifae, pleading for help because her love Goran the woodcutter was asleep on the bed. Goran was in a deep sleep, emaciated and obviously near death. Ellifae disclosed that she had enchanted the lake with a sleep spell to effectively trap Goran who had resisted her charms, but due to her anguish the spell was so powerful that it had basically become permanent.
(This encounter was adapted from notoriously bad D&D module N2: The Forest Oracle. I actually quite like the concept so ran with it.)
Gary and Tommy woke Goran with the aid of Janek's ability to dispel magic. He was understandably angry at Ellifae for almost killing him. He said he could not love the nymph as he only loved his wife, who had perished in Thundertree, and he only wanted a quiet life in the woods. He asked the heroes to get rid of Ellifae, however being very upset at all this she began to make a rather low growling noise. Gary, anticipating the worst, ran her through with his sword in particularly grousome fashion (a critical hit) however, the nymph clung on and with her superior grace, still managed to win the initiative. She immediately unsupprressed her unearthly beauty, and all in the room failed their saves. Everyone, including Goran on the bed, was now blind. Ellifae used this opportunity to flee into the woods. The party didn't know it, but this potentially saved their lives as Ellifae's next move would have been to fully reveal her true form and potentially kill anyone having a look.
Luckily, Janek's favour with Lathander allowed him to restore everyone's sight after a good few hours were spent resting in the cabin. They left Goran some rations to help him recover and in gratitude he told Tommy the location of an enchanted short bow under his bed beneath the floor. This is a +1 short bow with a simple enchantment which allows one arrow per day to be lit up as if by a 'Light' spell (20ft). The bow has an elven rune emblazoned on it which none of the party can read. Goran warned the heroes that he had heard goblins talking of 'Man and half' which he assumed referred to Tommy and Gary, and bade them a safe journey.
Tommy considered pickpocketing the half-dead woodcutter, but was convinced otherwise by Gary; who I suppose is good after all.
They continued on to Wyvern Tor, to where they had promised to accompany Janek, and took a day longer to find the Orc encampment than expected. The encampment itself was inside a wide cave in a cliff side, guarded by a lone sentry outside who Tommy hit in the neck with his new bow. The wretch couldn't cry for help before Gary finished him with a javelin. Tommy cautiously peered into the cave and noticed a few Orcs appearing at rest. All out assault was the favoured method, however an Ogre from the back of the cave who had somehow gone unnoticed by Tommy came charging at Gary and clubbed him about the head a few times, requiring Janek to step in and heal. A group effort toppled the Ogre and a search of the cave yielded some coins and not much else; Janek still missed out on a share, but said nothing.
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| An 'orrid ogre |
The session ended there, with Cragmaw Castle was the next destination, perhaps via Phandalin for the Wyvern Tor reward.
The heroes will start next session at Level 4!
